NBA Twitter was in awe of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s chase-down block on Mikal Bridges in the first half of Game 1.
If there were doubts about Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s knee injury heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he silenced them with a miraculous full-court chase-down denial of a Mikal Bridges layup.
The Milwaukee Bucks leading scorer showed off the remarkable athletic ability and defensive instinct that led to his winning both the NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2020.
Watch this ridiculous play in which Giannis comes out of nowhere to thwart Bridges at the rim.
GIANNIS SUPERHUMAN BLOCK 🤯 pic.twitter.com/5nbETqLGmc
— ESPN (@espn) July 7, 2021
The play would have been highlight-worthy even without the backdrop of a painful hyperextended knee injury. It immediately sent NBA Twitter into a frenzy.
Giannis making that chase down block pic.twitter.com/9Ps0B5LMl3
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) July 7, 2021
every Giannis stride pic.twitter.com/Kj4J53m0V6
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) July 7, 2021
Mikal Bridges: *has a fastbreak layup*
— Jake (@SuperiorNBA) July 7, 2021
Giannis: pic.twitter.com/kkDn99X8pT
Twitter loved Giannis’ chase-down block in Game 1
The Greek Freak’s superhuman play was reminiscent of LeBron James’ chase down in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which is no doubt still haunting Andre Iguodala to this day. It was also an excellent reminder of why this NBA Finals series is so compelling.
LeBron / Giannis chase down blocks pic.twitter.com/sLLPOySCHR
— Leigh Ellis (@LeighEllis) July 7, 2021
Iguodala seeing that Giannis block pic.twitter.com/67BzW2QIgt
— Memes (@PardonMyMeme) July 7, 2021
Shoutout to producer Tim Corrigan and the crew for all of these great angles on the Giannis block
— J.A. Adande (@jadande) July 7, 2021
pic.twitter.com/jIlcIpH2Xw
Giannis had 10 points and nine boards at halftime in the first NBA Finals game of his young career. The Suns held a 57-49 lead at the break.